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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781440195365 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | iUniverse, Incorporated |
| Publication date: | 09/28/2011 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 84 |
| File size: | 1 MB |
Read an Excerpt
Enchanted Gift
The Secret of the CastleBy Merita Dragusha
iUniverse, Inc.
Copyright © 2011 Merita DragushaAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4401-9535-8
Chapter One
There was an old wooden hut that could be found on a flat top of a hill in the village that was called Bedolia. A couple (Sorne and Zara) lived inside who loved each other dearly, and desperately wanted children. Sometimes when they looked at other people's children who lived at the bottom of the hill, they wished to have a little daughter or son to play with. They kept wishing for twenty years.One morning a woman with a small brown bag knocked on their door. Although she was a stranger, they welcomed her into their little cottage.
The strange woman sets beside the table on a little wooden stool and said, "I know you have been wishing for something for a long time, and I brought a gift that can make your wish come true," then she looked at Zara. "Do you want to wish for something?"
At first Zara could not think of anything, she just stays silent for a minute, and then she remembered her wish. But before she spoke, Sorne asked the women, "Where did you get that gift that you want to give to us, can you tell us that?"
The strange woman as she was looking at the bag said, "I was walking with my husband in the woods, and my eyes went to a small flower that was lying on the ground by a tree. As I was looking down, a soft voice whispered in my right ear and told me to take it. I felt weird at first when I picked it up, but after a few days I began to see many surprises every day."
Zara moves quickly in circles around the room as she was staring at the bag. From the time that the strange women came into her house, she has feelings in her heart, and she cannot wait to make her wish.
Sorne cannot believe the strange woman what she was saying, but before he asked her to leave his house, he asked her, "Can we see the flower that you are talking about?"
The strange women quickly opened the bag and took out the flower saying, "Look at this. You may make your wish now?"
Sorne started to laugh and said, "This is not a flower, why are you calling this a flower?"
Yes, he was right. It was not the flower that he was waiting to see? It was just one stick as a pencil wide and 8 inches long. It was smooth, soft and brown set in the cup.
The strange woman said as she took a deep sobbing breath, "It will improve later on, and you will be surprised with it."
Zara believes everything that the strange women said. As soon as the strange women opened the bag Zara already made her wish. She cannot let go that special gift which she was so happy to hear and to see it.
Sorne and Zara accepted the gift, they start waiting for their wish and hoping that one day they will be happy.
A year later, it happened, a baby boy was born in their hut, just as the strange woman had told them. Both Sorne and Zara were very happy to see a child in their house, and they named him Lanti. Every day when Sorne walked down the hill with Lanti, the people were very happy to see them, but they were very concerned sometime about a strange light was shining from the inside of their hut at night. Even though they were scared no one was willing to go near the house to find out what kind of light it was.
Zara never left her house alone since her wish came true. She stayed in and cooked good meals for Sorne and her son every day. Lanti grow up, he was 11 years old. He spent the most of his time working and playing at the market and he really worked hard to help his dad make a living. He was too young to work so much, but the important thing was that he has lots of fun. He never really felt ill, at least not until one day Zara decided to go to the market with Sorne and Lanti.
A woman who lived at the bottom of the hill in the small house, she was looking out her window. She saw them leave and decided she would go in their hut, and find out where the light was coming from. She waited until they were out of sight before heading up to their hut. When she reached the hut she stood at the front of the door but got a feeling that she should not go inside. She quickly opened the door and went inside even though she wanted to turn back.
As soon as she entered she saw a wondrous sight. She started rubbing her eyes and after a minute left the hut and fell to the ground. She became scared as she realized that she couldn't see anything around her. She started to scream as she realized that she was now blind.
After a short time Sorne and Zara with their son (Lanti) returned. Sorne was carrying his son in his arms and Zara after them. Lanti was not feeling good. He was having trouble moving his arms and legs, and his face was burning up.
Before they reached their hut, Zara heard something moving behind the bushes. She stopped and looked. She saw the women sitting on the ground, crying and wiping her face and she was burning up. Immediately Zara asked her, "What is wrong with you lady?" The women did not know it was Zara because she couldn't see her, but she told her the truth. She was in Zara's house and she saw something that made her blind and ill. When Zara heard her words, she almost fell on the ground from fear. Immediately she grabbed the woman's arm and said, "Come with me in my house, I will help you," and took her into her house. A minute later Zara came out from her house with the brown bag holding in her arm. She started walking down the hill as fast as she could and didn't look back. Zara has to do exactly as the strange woman told her to do, so it is time for Zara to pass the gift to someone else.
Chapter Two
Three months earlier
The city of Vollgory was located nine kilometers from the village (Bedolia). It was a huge castle with high walls made of strong stones located on the flat top of the hill. It was surrounded by a moat with the only entrance being a drawbridge with a big turret on the top.
Inside lived the King and his name was Vollg. He was known to be very sincere and extremely kind. He stood six feet with blue eyes and a long white beard. He was not handsome but had a pleasant face. He was married to the queen Solia and had a daughter by the name of Artella.
Early one morning in the imperial room, the king was setting at the table, which was only three yard away from the windows. He was staring at swords that were hanging on the right side of the wall, and thinking something that he had kept a secret for a long time. Suddenly he stood up and moved to open the door.
Outside the door, an armed guard stood. His name was Sandri. He has dark brown hair with almond shaped brown eyes, and is as tall as the king. He was wearing a tailored uniform and carrying a sword strapped to his left hips. He had been standing in front of the door walking left and right the whole night, so he was tired. He was leaning his back against the stone wall resting for a little bit, but his small nap was over when the king stated in a soft voice, "I need you to go and retrieve my daughter immediately?"
The guard (Sandri) almost fainted when he saw the king's face. He quickly came to attention and dropped to one knee on the floor saying, "Yes my lord, I will go immediately," and left to fetch the princess.
Upon reaching the princess's room, he slowly opened the door without announcing his presence. He approached the princess's bed. He could see that the windows were open and a soft breeze was blowing on her face. He stopped next to her bed and looked at her beautiful face. Her beauty had dazzled him. He thought to himself that he would like to be the wind and caress her beautiful hair. At that moment, the princess woke up and found the guard looking at her.
Sandri's eyes grew wide and his heart began to palpitate when he saw her awake.
The princess screamed in fear and rose quickly from the bed and said, "Why are you in my room? What do you want here?" and she pulled the blanket quickly all the way up to her mouth.
Quickly Sandri came to attention and dropped to one knee on the floor, and said, "Your majesty, please forgive my intrusion but the king wants to speak to you immediately."
The princess frowned at him and stated, "You will never enter my room without knocking. If you knock and I give you permission to enter then you may enter but otherwise do not darken my door. Now you may go and I will prepare myself to see the king. Do not ever enter without permission again."
"Yes, your majesty," Sandri said as he walked out the room and closed the door behind him.
The Princess rose from her bed. She dressed herself as beautifully as every day in a costly manner, brocade sky blue dress that fit her perfectly. She was five feet tall with a beautifully sculptured face and almond shaped blue eyes and coal black hair that hung down her back.
As she leaves her room the princess notices that the guard is still by the door waiting for her. In a scared voice, she asks, "Why are you here waiting for me?"
Sandri responded, "Because, I was sent by the king so I need to escort you back to the king your majesty".
The princess laughs and tells him "I know the way to my father; you think I cannot find my way there?"
Sandri does not respond but just walks behind her throughout the castle.
The king patiently waited in the imperial room for his daughter to appear. Finally the princess entered the room with the guard walking behind her.
The king rose as a way to honor her. "Come sit near me my daughter, I need to talk to you about something," he said.
The princess bowed her head and went to sit on the chair close to her father. After she sat down, she noticed that the guard was still in the room. Sandri could not seem to get away from her. He stood there smiling at her and watching her face. In his fascination, he had forgotten that the king was even in the room.
When the king went to sit on his chair, he notices that the guard was still staring at his daughter. He went to the guard; clap him on the shoulder as he laughs, and said, "You can go now, and do not forget to close the door fully behind you."
"Yes, My lord." Sandri answered to the king as he bowed his head, and began to walk toward the door while still watching the princess out of the corner of his eye, and then he closes the door slowly behind him.
The king started his talk! "Listen very well my daughter? My father had been an extremely smart and powerful king. He had been at war for several years until he finally defeated his enemies. After he had won he had this castle built. Before he died he shared the secret of the castle as well as trained me on the rules of being a king.
The princess was not surprised yet. She did not know what her father wanted to show her, so she was just listening to him.
"Under the castle are three rooms that no one knows about. I had been waiting for just the right moment to tell you my daughter, and I have kept them secret since my father had shown it to me forty years before."
The princess was a little bit confused as her father told her that her grandfather died after telling the secret. She then quietly asked her father, "Why do you want to tell me this secret now, father?"
"Because you are the same age as I was when my father told me this secret," was the king's reply.
"How can it be possible that you told no one about this after all these years." exclaimed the princess.
"I keep my promises," responded the king "I promised my father that I would never share this secret with anyone except my child when they turned sixteen, so today is the day and we go now."
The princess was so excited that she could barely stand still and hurried her father along the corridor of the castle. As they arrived near her room, the princess looked at her father with a shocked expression on her face. She thought that the secret was in her room and told her father that goose bumps had covered her body at the thought of the secret being in her room.
The king laughed and stated, "No, we have a bit farther to go."
As they walked along the long wall with the red tiles, they came upon two swords that were hanging on the wall. One was located on the right side of the wall and other on left with a gas lamp set up between them.
"You may have seen those swords many times before, but you didn't know what they are for. Now I will tell you of their importance and how you can use them," said the king and took off the right sword from the iron that was determined. "This sword is the key that opens the door. It is one door that you may not recognize at all." So he pushed the wall just an inch and stepped aside, which was in fact a door, swung open.
The princess was surprised. Always she had wondered why those two swords were hanging on the wall, but she never thought that there would be a door behind them.
The king took the sword and a lamp with him, as they enter in. It was dark inside, but the lamp had enough light to see everything.
Slowly the king closed the door behind him, and locked it with the sword that he had in his hand. He turned and looked at the princess said, "Do not worry, if someone tries to push this wall, the door will not open in any way, because the sword is the key on both sides of the door."
The princess didn't say anything. She just shook her head and remained silent.
Inside were some stairs built from stones? The steps were wide enough three people could walk on them at the same time. Below them are three smaller rooms without doors. The first two rooms were 4 meters long by 4 meters wide and empty without even a window.
When they entered in the last room, it was only slightly larger than the first and second room, so the only thing, the princess could see was a treasure laying on the floor near a corner, and a small door to the left.
The king took two steps to the right. He pulled an iron handle from the rope that was hung in the corner, and opened three small windows at the same time. Through them came immediately fresh air, and the room started to seem better even the light.
"It is nice father, so much better I can see now," said the princess.
The king sat on the floor near the treasury. He picked up a necklace full of diamond, and raised it in front of his daughter to show it to her.
The princess looks surprised. "It looks very beautiful," she said as she raised her hand to touch it. "Who has worn this before?" she asked her father.
"My mother was the queen of our country. Every time I look at you, I see the face of my dear mother, young and beautiful. If she were alive now she would be very happy, because she always had willingness for me to have a girl, but she did not wait for your birth." The king said as he raised the necklace near her, and put it on her neck.
The princess was very happy with the necklace that her father gave to her. She embraces him, and with a full smile on her face said, "I will never take this necklace from my neck father. I feel very happy that I have this gift from you, and from the woman that loved me even though I wasn't born yet."
"Yes my daughter, but it is time to leave now, and before we go, I want to also tell you this?" The king said as he rose up. "This door is a tunnel that can lead you out of the castle. I have only been in there once, but if we go through this tunnel, we will see mountains. We don't have time to go today, because it is a very long road."
"Yes father another day, so we will go now upstairs," said the princess with a happy face. She cannot wait to get out of there, so she can see the necklace better.
As they emerged from secrecy and closed the door behind them, the king turned in front of the princess, and speaking low and drawing near to her saying, "Listen. You cannot go inside every time you want; this is only if there is any danger, and you cannot tell your mother of this. If she knew this, she would get upset, because, I kept the secret from her for so long."
The princess bowed her head saying, "I promise father that I will not tell anyone of this. I will keep it in my heart and never forget it."
They left each other. The princess went to her room and the king begins to walk toward the imperial room.
The king has had a couple of day that he does not feel good. Every day something tightens in his chest, but he does not tell anybody, he does not want anybody to worry about him.
When the king got to the room, the queen was sitting in her chair, waiting for him. She stood up and said to him. "I was looking for you, but I couldn't find you anywhere."
"Why you need to see me?" asked the king.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Enchanted Gift by Merita Dragusha Copyright © 2011 by Merita Dragusha. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Table of Contents
Contents
CHAPTER 1....................1CHAPTER 2....................4
CHAPTER 3....................13
CHAPTER 4....................19
CHAPTER 5....................28
CHAPTER 6....................36
CHAPTER 7....................41
CHAPTER 8....................48
CHAPTER 9....................53
CHAPTER 10....................67
ABOUT THE AUTHOR....................75